AIBU to think that Legoland is just a massive sodding rip off.

[IAmADancer]

I had the unfortunate experience of going to Legoland yesterday and I am still angry about how much the whole day cost and feel as I have just been completely ripped off. I may as well have just taken a wad of money into the middle of the park and burnt it.
I know it was half term, although hadn’t realised when we booked the tickets, but from the moment I arrived I felt like we were just being conned out of money.
£12 for park
£120 in q-bots which were a waste of time as we would turn up at our allotted time and then still queue for another 20-25 mins because there were no staff or only part of the ride working.
£8.50 for a stupidly small salad
£16.00 for 3 coffees and a tea
£9 for face painting
The list is endless. How the hell do people afford to go to this place?
Half the rides aren’t working, the queues are over an hour for a ride that lasts 2 minutes. The queue to get an ice cream was 30 minutes and then you are charged an extortionate amount for one scoop. It is dirty and old looking, the rides are crap and the decent ones you have to pay extra for. The toilets are disgusting, the only food available is pizza, pasta and fried crap.

I was so pissed off by the end of the day and just felt completely taken advantage of.

So AIBU or is legoland actually incredible and I went on a bad day?

Bookmum08**
Thanks for the advice, will definitely do that

We rather like it there, used to go a lot and revisited a couple of months ago. I wouldn't go at half term if I could help it though. My DC have always loved the things you don't have to queue for like Miniland and the splash/play area, in fact I've sometimes had to drag them away to actually go on some rides.

We're going to Bricktastic at the end of June. It's our first time so no idea if it's any good but only £11 each. I think are other Lego shows around the country but this one's in Manchester. Basically, you see lots of Lego models, create your own out of big pits filled with Lego, plus all the profits go to charity.

We went 3 years ago and had a lovely time, would like to go again. However we used tesco clubcard vouchers so it was free! I would never pay full price.
We also took our own lunch.
It was shocking to have to pay for parking though, that does take the

I think for kids under 10 it is really good.

Has anyone been 2nd - 5th July. Coming from Northern Ireland so i know most kids are still at school. Worried after these commentems

Never been to the Windsor one but have visited the original one in Billund. Took a packed lunch, didn’t have to queue for more than 5 mins, dd had a great time! Think it was about £30 each?

We went to the Denmark one thirty odd years ago and it was great. The costs you're quoting makes £610 for a 14 day Disney/Universal ticket sound reasonable!

We went, we won't go back. Cost a fortune to stand in a queue all day

We took visiting DGC to Legoland near Windsor in the Christmas season just gone, to visit Santa. It was OK, by no means brilliant but well organised, plenty for DGC to do and no queues anywhere. We were also very lucky with the weather, some sunshine and no rain, and consoled ourselves thinking how much worse it would have been in the rain.

For a one off, for grandchildren, it made a relatively easy, child focused day out. I couldn't help noticing that everywhere, there were additional-cost options designed to catch the attention of the children. My parents were very consistent in refusing any additional cost options, so it was a novelty to treat DGC. Noticing how much more attractive the additions were than the experience we had already paid for, which was not exactly cheap, either, I had more sympathy with my parents than ever before.

poor maintenance (particularly in miniland), a gradual reduction of staff numbers over the years

Yes those were my main gripes too. We were there a couple of years aho and Miniland was incredibly washed out. Clearly hadn't been replaced since it was built. Stagnant water in the "rivers". Staff were predominantly teenage kids who had either not been trained or were inadequately supervised - very slow loading rides, not filling rides, general "don't give a shit" attitude.

Now I know you shouldn't compare to Disney in Florida because it's not the same thing, but over there you can't move for staff. All staff appear to be really proactive and customer-focused - maybe because they're full time staff who work there year round and not just temp summer staff. Also I'd disagree with the Disney parks looking shabby - they're constantly renovating, updating, taking away rides and building new ones and I'd defy you to find something not working or a piece of litter which is left lying for more than 5 minutes.

Lego as a product is amazing, their stores are bright and modern and their brand image is all about quality and service. Then you go to Legoland and experience the polar opposite.

Are other Merlin attractions equally poor? We've only SeaLife centres up here which I find very overpriced too.

Has anyone been 2nd - 5th July.

We're in Scotland and went first week in July. It was fairly busy with school groups during the day but they cleared out by about 2.45pm and after that it was quiet.

I live about 8 miles away and can get there on the bus. I used to go a lot before DC were at school and I was on mat leave. I used to get an annual Legoland annual pass which was free if you spend over £85 in the shop at Christmas (very easily done).

I would never, ever, ever go in school holidays or at weekends. The queues are poorly managemd and there are too many ride breakdowns. Mini land is now really tired and hasn’t been updated for years. Star Wars miniland is good but way too cramped. I’m visually impaired, and adults and children alike completely ignore the white stick and just barge into me in there.

Even in term time it can be hideous. From the middle of June onwards it’s just fulll of school trips full of rude and poorly supervised mobs of school kids.

We avoid Merlin parks in general for the same reason.

We all love Paulton’s Park though. My kids have grown out of Peppa Pig World so love going on all the other rides (which you very rarely have to queue at all for).

YANBU! We went last year for ds2 birthday. Two free tickets and paid £90 for the other two. £6 to park, £11 for 4 very small ice creams and the list goes on. Couldn't afford qbots so queued for 45mins - 90mins for rides. Took a picnic thankfully as food very very expensive. Ride photos too much money to buy. Kids loved it - me and dh much less so...

Is the Demark one better? Looking at the site it seems like the packages are good value for money, and Ryanair fly to the nearby airport. So it might be worth saving up for.

We've been to Windsor a few times (including last weekend) and I don't think it's any worse than other theme parks, or maybe I'm just comparing it to Merlin ones!

Tips for anyone going: use vouchers on cereal packets or Tesco vouchers. We've had Merlin passes this year so hasn't cost us anything. Park in the £6 car park. Take a picnic and eat it while watching the pirate show (wouldn't bother with the Lego Friends one). The queueing I've never found too bad. I like the fact they have things to entertain the kids while you're waiting.

Having said that, I went to Billund back in the '80s and it was lots of fun, but then again Legoland Windsor didn't exist so nothing to compare it to. I remember the driving school being the highlight. We had to put a Lego flag of our country in the windscreen and a man spoke to us from the control tower telling us how we were doing and how to improve!

Just spent two days there and I must admit my three kids had a great time. They are big Lego fans and spent the first day just looking at Lego models ... I could see that the rides had 1-2 hour queues so we arrived first thing on day two and did 4 rides before the queues started building up then the pirate show and then the shops. I can appreciate that some bits of the park need a serious revamp but my kids were in heaven ...

Be glad you didn't go on Tuesday. We managed two rides, then queued for 45 mins for another, during which time it started pouring down, and just as we got to the front of the queue the ride was closed down! The rain was torrential, so despite having taken a packed lunch we ended up paying out for extra food just to be out of the rain, then paid the £6 parking fee and took about an hour to get out as everyone was leaving at the same time. Grim.

we went on Thursday, I came away with the feeling that legoland's philosophy is fuck you poor people

Spiderpants**
This is my exact feeling too.

I have had a response from legoland to say it’s being passed on to the appropriate department. I will follow up in the next few days.

Just in case no one has linked this yet...

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186419-d207144-r298217582-Legoland_Windsor_Resort-Windsor_Windsor_and_Maidenhead_Berkshire_England.html

Ah just seen it has.. ah I love that review so much 😂😂😂😂

We love Legoland! Only go there during term-time. Take all our food and drinks with us. Get Merlin passes with Tesco vouchers.

Definitely don’t waste our money on Qbots. Get there as they open. Go to the most popular rides first. Take your time wandering round.
If you go during school holidays it’s a nightmare!

I used to tKe DC on an inset day using tesco vouchers, we had Real issues the last time we went,. Similar to what is described on this thread. I did write and complain. I was absolutely clear that I was not after a refund or compensation, but that I wanted the organisation to tell me how they would be making improvements to processes. The lreply I received was so patronising and full of fucking shit that I. Have never taken DC back. About 5 years ago. Shame really.

I live round the corner and have never been (two dc) so there we are!

Sorry you felt you had such a wasted day and wasted money 😬

We went recently and had an amazing time. Not school holidays, used cheap entry tickets, £6 parking and took a full packed lunch. We were then given the return for £10 vouchers so will be going again soon. Only long-ish queues (30 mins) were the car driving for toddlers and fire engines). I wouldn't go in school holidays or buy lunch there.